Emergency Management Planning

(Recorded May 20, 2026) In this episode we talk with Streetsboro Fire Department Cpt. Kevin Grimm who also serves as the Emergency Management Coordinate for the City of Streetsboro. Our discussion centers around planning before an emergency, what happens during an emergency, and what happens afterward. And, while we focus on Streetsboro, we also discuss planning and operations that, by extension, relate to incidents in communities throughout both Portage and Summit counties. TOPICS (01:10) - Local communities need to plan ahead for all possibilities (02:15) - The "Portage Prepares Initiative" program (04:17) - Streetsboro’s Emergency Operations Plan…”Why do I care?” (05:48) - What else do we plan for other than weather emergencies? (fires, chemical spills, etc.) (08:15) - What happens after a big emergency? (09:48) - Debris cleanup (11:49) - Emergency Operations Centers work to get things back to normal (12:51) - Portage County Emergency Management Agency and county-wide planning (14:53) - It’s not like the olden days when communities needed to fend for themselves(15:56) - Communication is critical during events. 88.9/WSTB is Streetsboro’s designated information source during emergency situations